portant object is accomplished by the same superior agency. For though an angel is represented as binding Satan, yet whence has he the commission and the power? Whence the key of the bottomless deep, but from Him who alone is described as having the keys of hell and of death; from Him who shutteth andino man openeth? By his permission the bottomless deep had been opened; by his power it is now closed and sealed. The author of all iniquity is confined in it for a time; after which he is permitted to come forth again "for a season, " and "to deceive the nations." But the beasts rise up no more. They are no longer the successful agents of Satan. He is no longer permitted to employ this kind of civil and religious tyranny against true religion and the happiness of man. The blissful season during which Satan continues bounden is called a thousand years." (Archdeacon Woodhouse.)

These thousand years, usually denominated the Millennium (which signifies the same thing), must now become the object of our attention, and the more so as some opinions have been lately revived respecting it, which we consider of a dangerous tendency.

The first event which we consider as connected with this period, and indeed as introducing it, viz. a powerful restraint upon Satan, and all the powers of darkness, is here expressed by the binding of Satan in a strong chain, and casting him down into the abyss-the prison assigned to him on his fall. This restraint, we apprehend, includes a great decrease of vice aud infidelity; a suppression of those diabolical arts by which the great enemy of God and man has deceived and enslaved the more ignorant part of mankind, such as necromancy, witchcraft, and devil-worship, still practised among many of the ruder nations of Africa, and we fear partly among some nearer home.

2. The suppression of war is another happy event to which the confinement of Satan, and the restraint put upon his influence, must directly lead. War is, indeed, sport to him, though it is death to but it shall be brought to its termi

us;

nation by the "Prince of Peace." It has been long since predicted by the evangelical prophet, that under his reign men shall learn war no more." (Isa. ii. 4.) We even flatter ourselves that we see some indications of this event approaching in the improved state of knowledge, and the spread of the gospel; but when the great "war spirit" shall be chained in the abyss, then shall universal peace take place.

3. The rapid progress of the arts and sciences and general knowledge may, we hope, add something in promotion of this great event. The invention of printing, and the improvements in navigation, we know have done much to promote the circulation of the Scriptures and the gospel through the world; and we may hope that the invention of stereotype and steamprinting, steam-navigation, and other new discoveries, may, by the end of the present century, produce effects no less salutary and important. But in no art or science, perhaps, are improvements more rapid than in the healing art; and it seems not too much to expect that the progress of medical and surgical knowledge, with the suppression of war, and the improvement in men's moral habits, may contribute to extend considerably the period of human life. (See Isa. lxv. 20, &c., with our Exposition.)

4. Improvements in education and in the acquirements of foreign languages, especially the languages of the heathen; also the formation of societies to support and promote the exertions of competent individuals; are farther appearances in providence much to be admired. But on the growth of knowledge, and especially of religious knowledge, we shall take the liberty to insert a few lines from the eloquent pen of the Rev. Robert Hall, now of Bristol. He remarks:

"In the representation of that glorious period, usually styled the Millennium, when religion shall universally prevail, it is mentioned as a conspicuous feature, that 'men shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.' That period will not be distinguished from the preceding, by

Ver. 4. I saw thrones, and they sat upon them— i. e. the souls of the martyrs, &c. Which had not

worshipped the beast, neither his image, &c. Compare chap. xiii 12, 15.

men's minds being more torpid and inactive; but rather by the consecration of every power to the service of the Most High. It will be a period of remarkable illumination, during which the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun, as that of seven days.' Every useful talent will be cultivated, every art subservient to the interests of man, be improved and perfected; learning will amass her stores, and genius emit her splendour; but the former will be displayed without ostentation, and the latter shine with the softened effulgence of humility and love.

"We have hitherto spoken of the advantages of knowledge in general; we proceed to notice the utility of religious knowledge in particular. Religion, on account of its intimate relation to a future state, is every man's proper business, and should be his chief care. Of knowledge in general, there are branches which it would be preposterous in the bulk of mankind to attempt to acquire, because they have no immediate connexion with their duties, and demand talents which nature has denied, or opportunities which Providence has withheld. But with respect to the primary truths of religion, the case is different; they are of such daily use and necessity, that they form, not the materials of mental luxury so properly, as the food of the mind. In improving the character, the influence of general knowledge is often feeble, and always indirect; of religious knowledge, the tendency to purify the heart is immediate, and forms its professed scope and design."-(Hall's Sermon on Knowledge, p. 10-12.)

(K) Ver. 4-6. The first resurrection.— The great question here to be considered is, whether this resurrection should be literally or figuratively understood? We shall

endeavour to state the arguments on both sides with brevity and candour. In favour of a literal interpretation, we shall quote Bishop Newton, who remarks" In the general, that there shall be such a happy period as the Millennium; that the king. dom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High' (Dan. vii. 27); that Christ shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession' (Psa. ii. 8); that the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea' (Isa. xi. 9); that the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved' (Rom. xi. 25, 26); in a word, that the kingdom of heaven shall be established upon the earth, is the plain and express doctrine of Daniel, and all the prophets, as well as of St. John; and we daily pray for the accomplishment of it in praying, Thy kingdom come!! But of all the prophets, St. John is the only one who hath declared particularly, and in express terms, that the martyrs shall rise to par take of the felicities of this kingdom, and that it shall continue upon earth a thousand years; and the Jewish church before him, and the Christian church after him, have farther believed and taught, that these thousand years will be the seventh millenary of the world."

The learned prelate here cites several passages from the Rabbies, and the early Christian fathers, to the same general effect; and in particular from Justin Mar, tyr, who, in the second century, certainly maintained, that this resurrection of the martyrs was to be literally understood, and that Jesus Christ would descend from heaven, and reign with his saints personally in Jerusalem; and that, at the end of this thousand years, should follow the general

The blessedness]

expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

[of the Millennium.

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters

resurrection, and the final judgment. These opinions, it is granted, were afterwards carried to a pitch of extravagance, which sunk them into disrepute; but they were again purified and revived, and, among the moderns, have been ably and strenuously defended by Mr. Jos. Mede, Dr. Thos, Burnett, Dr. Jno. Gill, Mr. Faber, Mr. Frere, Dr. Hales, and others, on the same principles as Bishop Newton, already cited. The Bishop lays particular stress on the fifth verse, which asserts, that the rest of the dead lived not till a thousand years after the resurrection of the martyrs. Both passages (he contends) must be understood in the same mauner. "If the martyrs rise only in a spiritual sense, then the rest of the dead rise only in a spiritual sense; but if the rest of the dead really rise, the martyrs rise in the same manner.' So argues his Lordship, and with considerable force.

On the other hand, it must be acknow. ledged, that this doctrine of a literal re surrection, and the personal reign of Christ on earth, met with early opposition, particularly from Origen, and Dionysius of Alexandria: it never was received as the universal opinion of the Christian church; and the most eminent expositors of modern times lean decidedly the other way, that is, to the figurative or spiritual interpretation of this mysterious passage. We recollect particularly, Dr. Whitby, Prof. Witsius, Pres. Edwards, Mr. Lowman, Dr. Guise, Dr. Hopkins, Dr. Br. Johnstone, Mr. Fuller, Mr. T. Scott, Dr. Bogue, and Dr. Boothroyd. Dr. Doddridge, and Archdeacon Woodhouse hesitate. The grounds on which these reason, we shall now explain.

That this resurrection must not be literally explained, they argue, 1. Because the removal of saints and martyrs from heaven to earth for a thousand years, would (they conceive), so far from being a reward to their fidelity, prove a deterioration of their happiness; especially while the world is subjected to sin and sorrow, which must evidently be the case till after the defeat of Gog and Magog. They cannot suppose the saints in heaven will be gratified to leave their celestial thrones for earthly ones below, much less to fight with infidels.

2. It seems utterly incongruous to associate the children of the resurrection" with the subjects of mortality and sin. It is true, that some of the saints arose, in consequence of the earthquake that attended our Lord's crucifixion; but we have good reason to believe, that, like Lazarus and others miraculously raised, they died again, which is not supposed of these martyrs. (See our Exposition of Matthew xxvii. 45-54.) The children of the resurrection"neither marry nor are given in marriage;" how then shall they associate with flesh and blood? They have rested from their labours upon earth; are they then to renew them for their reward?

3. The idea of our Lord himself leaving his seat upon the Father's throne in glory, to occupy one on earth, seems still more unscriptural and absurd. He has told us repeatedly and emphatically, that his kingdom is not of this world, and shall he, after all the glories of his exaltation, stoop to wield an earthly sceptre? And is he again personally to recommence his warfare with the devil? Every way in which this subject can be viewed, either with respect to himself or the saints, it seems utterly inconsistent, both with Scripture and

common sense.

4. The very terms in which this resurrection is spoken of, are thought inapplicable to a literal resurrection, "I saw the souls of them that were beheaded," &c. which is an expression never used of the resurrection of the body. The reanimation of their spirits, is like the reappearance of Elias in the person of John the Baptist. It is, in the figurative language of this book, a reanimation of the church, by the same spirit and temper being given, as was displayed in the saints and martyrs of former ages; for the same spirit, poured from on high, will ever form the same holy and zealous characters. This spiritual resurrection is in analogy with the resurrection and ascension of the two witnesses, in chapter xi., and, indeed, with the style of the whole book.

Lastly, the idea of the saints, or a part of them, being raised a thousand years before mankind in general, does not appear at all to agree with other descriptions of

Ver. 8. Four quarters-i. e. the cardinal points of the compass.Gog and Magog.-See Exposition of Ezekiel, chap. xxxviii. and xxxix. Those who

date the conversion and return of the Jews within this period, consider this as an attack upon them by the Tartars.

The destruction]

of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city and fire came down from God

[of Gog and Magog.

out of heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tor mented day and night for ever and ever. (L)

11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne,

the general resurrection; that, in particular, in the close of this chapter, wherein the dead, "small and great"-righteous and wicked-those whose " names were written in the book of life," and those uot therein written, stand together before the throne of judgment. (Compare Matt. xxv. 31, &c.; Johu v. 28, 29; Rom. xiv. 10-12; 2 Cor. v. 10; 1 Thess. iv. 14-17, &c.) Now though we should admit that "the dead in Christ shall rise first," that is, before the wicked; yet, that they shall rise a thousand years before the wicked-yea, even before the final contest recorded below (verse 8, 9), appears to many, and, we confess, to us, very improbable and inconsistent.

With respect to the expression (ver. 5), "the rest of the dead lived not," that may be understood figuratively, as well as the resurrection in ver. 4. So Mr. Lowman explains the rest of the dead," of that remnant which was slain with the sword of Him that sat on the white horse (chap. xix. 21). "Thus (he remarks) the dead church raised to life, and living and reigning for a thousand years, and the enemies of the church remaining dead, and not living again till the thousand years were finished, will exactly agree in the same figurative meaning. This will be a sense consistent with the resurrection of the Antichristian party also for a little season (ver. 3), after the thousand years shall be finished." So also Mr. Fuller.

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection!" So saith our apostolic prophet: they are raised from a death in sin to holiness in heart and life, and on such "the second death (which will be the portion of the wicked) shall have no power."-" The first resurrection (says Mr. Fuller) supposes a second, which seems to be that of the just and the unjust.

In this the wicked shall be raised to die a second death; but over the followers of Christ the second death shall have no power. As a pledge of their victory, they are already made priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign in spiritual prosperity from generation to generation, for the space of a thousand years."

[For farther remarks upon the Millennium, the writer begs leave to refer to that article in his Dictionary of all Religions.]

(L) Ver. 7-10. Infidelity supported by the armies of Gog and Magog, which are destroyed by fire from heaven.-The imagery of this chapter is also doubtless borrowed from Ezekiel, chap. xxxviii. and xxxix., to which we beg leave to refer our readers, in order to avoid repetition. By Gog and Magog, we suppose, must be understood some of the Northern idolatrous nations, who had continued to refuse obedience to the gospel, or, at least, had apostatized therefrom. Indeed, such is human nature, that it is always prone to decline from practical religion; and it should seem, that even in those who may experience the power of religion during the happy period of the Millennium, there will be a great decline toward the end of it, and many will be se duced to listen to the infidel suggestions of the devil, as our Lord himself bath said, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith in the earth?" (Luke xviii. 8.)

Satan once more loosed from his prison, will employ all his emissaries (as under the sixth vial) to gather together (as it were) "the whole world" from all quarters, to besiege the camp of the saints and the beloved city, by which is generally understood Jerusalem, rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate the Hebrew nation on their return. The invaders are neither the ful

Ver. 9. Went up on the breadth.-This seems to us to imply a globular form of the earth, and to represent persons as rising from the under hemisphere on every side. And fire came down, &c.-This is an evident allusion to the destruction of Sodom

and Gomorrah, Gen. xix. 24, 25.

Ver. 10. Where the beast and the false propast are. See chap. xix. 20.

Ver. 11. A great white throne.-Compare Dan vii. 9.

lowers of the beast, nor the false prophet, for they are consigned to their own place; but, probably, a host of infidel philosophers, such as are described by Peter (2 Epis. iii. 4) and by Jude (ver. 18, 19). This is properly the reign of infidelity, and Satan is their king. But he also is taken as the beast and false prophet had been before, and cast into the same lake of burning. Now is the triumph of Christ, and the defeat of Satan, complete and final.

But, previous to the commencement of the Millennium, Christians generally expect, not only the fall of Popery and Mahometanism, but the national conversion of the Jews, and the return of a large body of them, at least, to their own land. We have already expressed our sentiments on this subject in our Exposition of Jer. ch. xxx. and xxxi., Romans xi., and other parts of Scripture which seem to us to have an evident reference to this subject. But, we confess, we feel disappointed in finding so little in this book that has any explicit reference to this important subject. The restoration of Israel is, by the prophet Ezekiel, compared to a resurrection, and possibly the first resurrection in this chapter may refer to it: the same prophet describes a new Jerusalem and a new teinple in terms so analogous to chap. xxi. of this Apocalypse, that many able commentators think that chapter may be retrospectivethat is, that it may refer to the Millennium, and describe the call of the Jews together with the fulness of the Gentiles; but on this we shall further remark presently.

One other inquiry, which we have hitherto passed over, now demands some attention; and, indeed, has been an object of primary importance with many commentators-namely, that of the disciples to our Lord-" Tell us, when shall these things be?" (Matt. xxiv. 3.) That this, when properly and modestly conducted, is a lawful subject of inquiry, we have no doubt, since we are in some measure furnished with the means of answering it. The continuance of the beast and false prophet, the sojourns of the woman (or church) in the wilderness, the prophesying of the witnesses in sackcloth, are all limited to 42 months, or 1260 days or years, as we are expressly told; and if we can find their beginning, it will be easy to find their close; and, consequently, nearly to

ascertain the commencement of the Millennium. After examining a variety of hypotheses on this subject, with which we think it unnecessary to trouble our readers, we remark, that having, with Mr. Fuller (Exposition of chap. i.), commenced the prophecies of this book from the time of Pentecost, A. D. 33, and using the number of the beast, 666, chronologically (in which we are by no means confident), it will bring us very nearly to the close of the seventh century. From this time, date the 1260 years above mentioned, and they will bring us to about A. D. 1960, leaving 40 years from the fall of Popery, to prepare for the gradual introduction of the Millennium. This great event, the best expositors, ancient and modern, commence with the seventh chiliad (or 1000 years) from the creation, which ancient traditions, both Jewish and Christian, consider as the great sabbath of the world. We may now compare the respective systems of a few of the most popular commenta. tors on this book of the present day. The earliest date usually employed for the commencement of the 1260 years, is A.D. 533, which is the system of Mr. Frere and the Rev. Mr. Irving. But if this were correct, the time must have expired in 1793, when, it must be admitted, Popery received" a deadly wound," but is not yet dead, nor apparently in dying circumstances, though that was 34 years ago. Mr. Faber dates from A.D. 606, when the Pope assumed the title of Universal Bishop; and, accordingly, expects the fall of Popery in 1866.

Mr. Lowman, though an earlier commentator, is (we believe) far more generally followed; and he commences the 1260 days from about 756, when, by aid of Pepin, King of France, the Pope obtained considerable temporalities. This carries on the reign of Popery to 2016, or sixteen years into the commencement of the Millennium, as it is generally reckoned. Dr. Bogue, however, who is one of the most able, recent and temperate writers on this subject, thinks this carries the period on twenty or thirty years too late and these years deducted will carry back their commencement nearly to the time above suggested; and we cannot pretend to be

exact.

Certain it is, the Pope began to acquire secular power, and temporal possessions, very early in the eighth century.